"retinopathy of prematurity"

Telemedicine services facilitate the evaluation, diagnosis, and management of the remote patient. Telemedicine has rapidly flourished in the United States and has improved access to care, outcomes, and patient satisfaction. However, the use of telemedicine in ophthalmology is currently in its infancy and has yet to gain wide acceptance. Current models of telemedicine in ophthalmology are largely performed via "store and forward" methods, but remote monitoring and interactive modalities exist. Although studies have examined the effects of telemedicine, few reports have characterized its current status...

Pathological proliferation of retinal blood vessels commonly causes vision impairment in proliferative retinopathies, including retinopathy of prematurity. Dysregulated crosstalk between the vasculature and retinal neurons is increasingly recognized as a major factor contributing to the pathogenesis of vascular diseases. Class 3 semaphorins (SEMA3s), a group of neuron-secreted axonal and vascular guidance factors, suppress pathological vascular growth in retinopathy. However, the upstream transcriptional regulators that mediate the function of SEMA3s in vascular growth are poorly understood...

PURPOSE: The main aim of the study was to evaluate which factors affect the long-time visual function in preterm children, whether it is prematurity or retinopathy of prematurity or perhaps disturbances in the visual pathway. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-eight children with mean birth weight 1016 g (range 520-1500 g) were evaluated at mean age 48 months (range 42-54 months). All children underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, visual evoked potentials (VEPs), and the Developmental Test of Visual Perception (DTVP)...

Visual loss caused by retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) will be prevented if treatment-requiring ROP (TR-ROP) can be predicted. In this retrospective study including 418 infants with ≤32 weeks of gestational age (GA) and/or ≤1500 grams of birthweight, we attempted to identify useful predictors. We also examined the efficiency of significant predictors compared with existing predictive models, ROPScore and CHOP model. Multivariable logistic regression analyses supported the following factors were useful for predicting TR-ROP from all infants and infants with any ROP: GA (odds ratio [OR], 0...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare temperament and behavior profiles among groups of preterm toddlers differentiated by level of prematurity and the presence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) or retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), controlling for neonatal clinical conditions and chronological age. METHOD: The sample comprised 100 preterm toddlers segregated according to level of prematurity (75 very preterm and 25 moderate/late preterm) and presence of BPD (n=36) and ROP (n=63)...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the anatomical and refractive outcomes after treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab or laser in a patient cohort with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). METHODS: A multicentre, prospective, and observational study was performed on patients with ROP treated at Hospital Roberto del Río. Those patients with less than 6months of follow-up were excluded. Cases with posterior zone II, zone I ROP, and aggressive posterior ROP (AP-ROP) were treated with intravitreal bevacizumab...

Eight infants were closely monitored for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) while in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); two required laser therapy. After discharge from the NICU, they had outpatient examination with dilated, scleral depressed ROP staging, and each had digital widefield retinal imaging (Optos, Dunfermline, United Kingdom) without lid speculum, or with lid speculum if not cooperative. Images were shared remotely using ROP-Check software (Glacier Medical Software, Anchorage, AK), from which ophthalmologists made clinical impressions...

BACKGROUND: Laser therapy has been the gold standard treatment for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), while intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) is reported to be of significant benefit for zone I ROP. A problem with laser therapy is that it is difficult to administer in ROP patients with severely dilated tunica vasculosa lentis and poor mydriasis. However, although IVB treatment has been performed in such severe ROP cases, only 1 report has discussed its usefulness. CASE 1: A male infant was born with a birth weight of 382 g at 23 weeks' gestation...

Müller glia (MG) are major retinal supporting cells that participate in retinal metabolism, function, maintenance, and protection. During the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR), a neurovascular disease and a leading cause of blindness, MG modulate vascular function and neuronal integrity by regulating the production of angiogenic and trophic factors. In this article, I will (1) briefly summarize our work on delineating the role and mechanism of MG-modulated vascular function through the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and on investigating VEGF signaling-mediated MG viability and neural protection in diabetic animal models, (2) explore the relationship among VEGF and neurotrophins in protecting Müller cells in in vitro models of diabetes and hypoxia and its potential implication to neuroprotection in DR and hypoxic retinal diseases, and (3) discuss the relevance of our work to the effectiveness and safety of long-term anti-VEGF therapies, a widely used strategy to combat DR, diabetic macular edema, neovascular age-related macular degeneration, retinopathy of prematurity, and other hypoxic retinal vascular disorders...

The number of retinal detachments in children is rarely compared to the number of retinal detachments in adults; only 3 - 7% occur in children. The main predisposing factors are trauma, myopia, hereditary vitreoretinopathies, retinopathy of prematurity, malformations and Coats' disease. The most frequent paediatric retinal detachments are trauma-associated and vitreoretinopathies are the most common cause of inherited retinal detachment. Disease-specific surgical treatments are discussed. Episcleral buckling surgery should be the preferred method in any case of clear lens, especially for treatment of oradialysis and well-defined localization of peripherally retinal tears...

Retinopathy of prematurity, a leading cause of visual impairment in low birth-weight infants, remains a crucial therapeutic challenge. Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is a promyelinating trophic factor that promotes rod and cone photoreceptor survival and cone outer segment regeneration in the degenerating retina. Ciliary neurotrophic factor expression is regulated by many factors such as all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). In this study, we found that ATRA increased CNTF expression in mouse retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, and PKA signaling pathway is necessary for ATRA-induced CNTF upregulation...

Intravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVB) is emerging as a safe and effective therapy for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP); however, follow-up investigations after IVB have indicated that endophthalmitis, a rare and devastating complication, may develop. The present study reports a case of an infant with ROP who developed endophthalmitis after IVB infection. The infant was administered with an intravitreal injection of broad-spectrum antibiotics to treat the endophthalmitis. A favorable anatomic outcome was achieved after follow-up...

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of hemoglobin F (HbF) and hemoglobin A (HbA) levels on development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in premature infants. METHODS: In this prospective study, blood samples were collected from the side of the heel of 49 premature infants at postnatal months 0, 1, 2 and 3. HbF and HbA levels were measured in all samples and analyzed statistically. Furthermore, correlation analysis was performed regarding development of ROP, blood transfusion and HbF and HbA levels...

PURPOSE: To evaluate efficacy of combined vitrectomy with posteriorly-placed glaucoma drainage device (GDD) in lowering intraocular pressure (IOP) in children. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective case review identified 20 children who underwent vitrectomy with posteriorly-placed GDD with minimal 6-months follow-up. First eye operated on was included. Success was defined as IOP 5-20 mmHg, no additional IOP-lowering surgery or visually-devastating complications. RESULTS: Patients with primary infantile-onset glaucoma (25%), traumatic glaucoma (15%), Peters anomaly (15%), microphthalmia (25%), glaucoma following cataract surgery (10%), microspherophakia (5%), and retinopathy of prematurity (5%) were included...

PURPOSE: The Colorado retinopathy of prematurity (CO-ROP) model is a novel screening algorithm that recommends screening for ROP in infants meeting the following criteria: gestational age ≤30 weeks, birth weight of ≤1500 g, and a net weight gain of ≤650 g between birth and 4 weeks of age. This study was performed to evaluate the validity of the CO-ROP model in a tertiary referral county hospital. METHODS: Three hundred seventy-four consecutive newborns screened for ROP using national screening guidelines at Parkland Hospital (Dallas, TX) from April 1, 2009 to August 30, 2013 were retrospectively applied to the CO-ROP model...

BACKGROUND: The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network previously demonstrated an association between stillbirth and maternal marijuana use as defined by the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol in the umbilical cord homogenate. However, the relationship between marijuana use and perinatal complications in live births is uncertain. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to examine if maternal marijuana use is associated with increased odds of adverse pregnancy outcomes and neonatal morbidity among live-born controls in the Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network cohort...

BACKGROUND: To investigate whether neonatal hyperglycaemia in the first postnatal week is associated with treatment-demanding retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). METHODS: This is a Danish national, retrospective, case-control study of premature infants (birth period 2003-2006). Three national registers were searched, and data were linked through a unique civil registration number. The study sample consisted of 106 cases each matched with two comparison infants. Matching criteria were gestational age (GA) at birth, ROP not registered and born at the same neonatal intensive care unit...

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to estimate the unknown burden of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) blindness from nine states of India using demographic, incidence and treatment data from an ongoing statewide ROP program in Karnataka called the Karnataka Internet Assisted Diagnosis of ROP (KIDROP) and to calculate the fiscal quantum of preventable blindness in these states. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The KIDROP model is an ongoing tele-ROP service providing screening and treatment for ROP in Karnataka since 2008...

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between prematurity, vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), VEGFR-1 (soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFLT-1)) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). METHODS: A cohort of 53 neonates (gestation <28 weeks) was recruited into this study and peripheral venous samples for VEGF and sFLT-1 measurement were obtained between gestational ages 32(0)-32(6) weeks. RESULTS: The mean birth weight for the preterm neonates was 850 (178) g and the median gestational age was 26...

BACKGROUND: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a condition of abnormal retinal vascular development (RVD) in premature infants. Fluorescein angiography (FA) has depicted phases (early, mid, late, and mature) of RVD in oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) mice. We sought to establish the relationship between retinal structural and vascular changes using simultaneous FA and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). METHOD: 63 mice were exposed to 77% oxygen at postnatal day 7 (P7) for 5 days, while 63 mice remained in room air (RA)...